Baseball

Philadelphia (NL): Citizens Bank Park (Citizens Bank is the
title sponsor) officially opened on April 12 for the Phillies home-opening
4-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The baseballonly, grass-field park is located
adjacent to Veterans Stadium in South Philadelphia on the north side of Pattison
Avenue, between 11th and Darien Streets and offers scenic views of the Philadelphia
skyline. The ballpark seats 43,500, including 4,700 club seats and 71 luxury
suites. Final cost of project is $458 million. One of the more impressive
design features of the new park is a 50-foot high neon Liberty Bell that lights
up and rings following Phillies home runs.

San Diego (NL):PETCO Park (PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc. is
the title sponsor) held its first game on Mar. 12 with a regular-season game
between San Diego St. and the University of Houston (SDSU won, 4-0) four weeks
before the Padres’ home opener. The crowd of 40,106 was the largest
in college baseball history. The Padres christened the park on Apr. 8 with
a 10-inning, 4-3 win over upstate rival San Francisco. The open-air, grass-field
park is located on a onesquare- block downtown lot and part of a larger redevelopment
project that includes a new hotel, office space and retail space. The park
seats approximately 42,000, including 6,000 club seats and 58 luxury suites,
and cost $474 million. The adjacent historic Western Metal Supply Company
building was incorporated as a portion of the left field wall and foul pole.